Santa Cruz de la Palma

The Castle of Santa Catalina, located on the island of la Palma, specifically in the center of its capital, Santa Cruz de La Palma

The Church of El Salvador is located in Santa Cruz de La Palma, was founded in 1800, the parish is the result of a series of reforms and extensions that gave place to the basilica that is known today. The Church of El Salvador consists of three naves that are separated by half-point arches, smooth shaft and arches, while the cover is Mudejar style that gives a certain Arab air . The Church of El Salvador of Santa Cruz de La Palma, of the three facades, the main one is facing south, is made of stonework, is ordered from two pedestals lateral, on which two pairs of columns of Corinthian capital support, which in turn hold a triangular pediment, whose corners depart Doric pilasters crowned on the sides by vases and in the center an image made in marble of

The importance of transportation to the island of La Palma has always been vital, so there is the possibility of visiting the Naval Museum of Santa Cruz de la Palma. The museum is located very close to the Castle of the Virgin, but the most curious thing is that it is aboard The Boat of the Virgin of the Snows, a reproduction of the skull of Cristóbal Columbus that led him to discover America back in 1492. The ship that is now a naval museum has become one of the symbols of the city, which undoubtedly has a seafaring tradition of centuries. It should be noted that the Naval Museum of Santa Cruz de La Palma has an important collection of objects such as navigational charts, instruments that served the ancient sailors to orientate themselves in high sea, models, graphic documentation, journalistic documentation with an important historical value and large amount of naval material that has been used throughout history. The collection of elements found in the naval museum is endless, figureheads, logbooks, riparian carpentry tools and many documents that show the importance of navigation for the island.

The Insular Museum of Fine Arts, Natural Sciences and Ethnography is one of the most interesting places you can visit in the Santa Cruz de la Palma, it is located in the facilities of the house of friars of the old Convent of San Francisco de San Cruz de La Palma. This museum was created in 1915 with the collection donated by Senator Pedro Poggio Álvarez, besides this collection also has other funds that have been acquired by the Cabildo Insular between the that you can find works by the local artist Manuel González Méndez. The museum also has a part devoted to Ethnography, where you can see different elements related to housing, agriculture, gastronomy or textile production. Finally, it is worth mentioning the part devoted to the natural sciences, in principle it was integrated by the Museum of Natural History of the Royal Society of Cosmology and has been completed with new mineral zoological units. Other rooms can be highlighted, such as the Carpentry Room of Ribera, where the visitor can see the history of shipbuilding on the island. Another of the rooms is the so-called Silk Room, in which you can see utensils that serve to work this type of fabrics.

The Monastery of Cister is a monastery of the order of the same name that currently has a nun's community of closures that live in the facilities. The Monastery was founded in 1946 by Dolores Van de Walle and Fierro in Buenavista, nowadays it is in a house that had previously belonged to Ana de Monteverde Cabeza de Vaca

The I sla de la Palma has a series of characteristic constructions that are part of the Canarian culture. Where you can best see reflected the typical element in the Canarian buildings are the balconies that look on the streets of any of the cities of the island. In Santa Cruz de la Palma you can see many of these typical balconies that highlight in an outstanding way the walks that visitors can make through its streets. The influence of the emigrants who came to the island from the peninsula led to the extension of two types of balconies. First the western that can be seen in the northern part of the Iberian peninsula and the Muslim, more typical in the southern part of the peninsula where the Muslim culture spread. In the islands the western balconies predominate because there were no narrow streets, to have an artistic isolation and a third reason, the climatic and social factors. These balconies were located as reserved and back rooms normally on the second floors of the house. In La Palma these double balconies are located facing the sea, the houses have the typical Portuguese scheme (high and narrow), the balconies are covered by latticework and are also known as the balcony of

One of the most important buildings in Santa Cruz de la Palma is the Salazar Main House, it is known as the most important house in the Salazar family, a family originally from the Burgos Valley, and is one of the houses that said family had in La Palma. The mansion of Salazar was built by Ventura de Frías Salazar, field master, knight of the Order of Calatrava and governed by Palma Council between 1631 and shortly after 1642. The first thing that strikes the attention of the Casa de Salazar is the façade, built with carvings, with elegant lines and the assumption on the island of La Palma of elements of the baroque as helical shafts in its columns. It also has friezes decorated with rosettes, central balcony with wrought iron sill and top finish in split pediment, there you can see the shield of Salazar, made of marble and formed by thirteen gold stars on field of gules. At present the Casa de Salaza r is owned by the Cabildo de La Palma, it was restored and today it has become a cultural center in Santa Cruz de la Palma. The facilities of the Casa de Salazar usually host congresses, work meetings and some exhibitions.

In Santa Cruz de la Palma you can visit one of the most beautiful viewpoints of the whole island of La Palma, it is the Mirador de Los Gomeros, in the ravine of the same name. The first thing that draws attention to this picturesque place is the bronze sculpture that stands out, a figure that represents a Canarian woman whistling while looking towards the horizon. The sculpture serves as a tribute and acknowledgment to the effort made by the inhabitants of La Palma who emigrated especially in the 50s and 60s and thanks to it served to develop the fields of the island. From the viewpoint of Los Gomeros you can see an amazing view of the coast of La Palma, on clear days it is possible to see the neighboring island of Tenerife

Los Molinos de Bellido se encuentran en la isla de La Palma en el término municipal de Santa Cruz de La Palma. Este conjunto está formado por cuatro molinos de agua que fueron erigidos en dos etapas, la primera fue durante el siglo XVII y la segunda durante el siglo XIX. Los Molinos de Bellido forman parte de la conocida como “Ruta del Agua” muy cercano a al casco urbano de Santa Cruz de La Palma. Es un lugar perfecto para iniciar una interesante ruta senderistas, aunque hay que sortear un desnivel considerable, bien merece la pena para poder disfrutar de un lugar fantástico, tranquilo y con mucha historia. Los Molinos de Bellido reciben este nombre por el antiguo capitán y regidor del cabildo de La Palma Juan Wandewalle de Cervellon que utilizaba el segundo apellido de su abuela, María Cervellón Bellid. Los Molinos fueron construidos a diferentes alturas junto al canal que abastecía de agua a la ciudad, el objetivo era moler el grano y hacer harina. Llegaron a existir 13 molinos y tenían forma de torreón, algunos fueron construídos en madera de tea pero en el siglo XIX empezaron a utlizar argamasa. Dos de ellos fueron construidos en en 1865 y 1872 y son conocidos con el nombre de Molino del Cajetero y Molino de Hernández-Fierro. Los dos más antiguos los construyó Juan Vandewalle de Cervellón-Bellid durante la primera mitad del siglo XVII.

En la Casa Rosada se encuentran los siguientes servicios del Cabildo Insular de La Palma: Artesanía, Empleo, Asuntos Sociales y Sanidad.